Nutritious choice foods are in the main not difficult to make.
Slow food made fast is our slogan; one does not have to spend slavish-hours in the kitchen preparing nutritious meals.
When I was young I certainly did not think too much about dying. That is particular true for the Christian anyway; death, where is thy sting? But now that I am getting long in the tooth, one starts to reflect on what is left to be accomplished.
Research published in the highly esteemed journal Circulation, after following over 100,000 men and women for thirty long years found that those enjoying at least two fruit and three vegetables per day had the lowest mortality; less tumours, cardiovascular diseases and lung conditions[1], with the exception of starchy vegetables like peas and potatoes.
Having said that, almost none of the participants would have been enjoying new potatoes and peas straight from the garden; they have a lower GI.
This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 9th April, 2024.
It is my conviction that if your daily eating habits are chosen in the main from nutritious choice foods like these, then periodically you can left your hair down. Like my birthday in Mannlichen; from here I can almost reach out and touch the North Face of the Eiger. It was a pretty junky lunch, but that is fine now and then.
The alternative is the steady decline in the older person to what is known as the frailty syndrome; know these five criteria.
You will not find freshly picked sugar snap peas, radishes and hummus in a fast food restaurant.
The entertainment, Alphorns, and that is the Jungfrau in the background. Going along with nutritious food and exercises is the importance of taking time to smell the roses; astonishingly, this was one of the cheapest holidays we had in Europe.
Sample chapters
Respect your food
In days of yore we took our food more seriously than we do now. Not that we love it any less; has there ever been a time when people were not fonder of their sup than anything else?
No, but we had a greater respect for our food. And I suspect enjoyed it more, but who is to measure that. I have such fond memories of my childhood.
My father for instance, treated his citrus trees with the greatest respect. Nowhere could you find sweeter and juicier Valencias than from our farm.
They were irrigated with the sweet water from the Umngeni River which is alas not so pure today, and the oranges were fertilised by the manure and composts from what was left of the maize stalks, and cattle and pig manure.
The orange blossom honey from my bees was light and pale, with the pure bouquet of the finest nectar.
In the parlour, my brother and I would dash, mugs in hand, to sample the freshly drawn milk. There are few things nicer than the foam from a bucket straight from the cow.
Or the apple tarts that my mother baked; I would be sent to pick baskets from the moss'd trees, heavy in fruit with ripeness to the core; preferably the toppies had taken a peck or two. Then we knew they were at their sweetest.
Those birds have a better eye than we for when the fruit is fully ripe. Her puff pastry had no equal I was convinced as a child. May I have a little more, please, Mum?
And this to complement a heavy regimen that they both enjoyed at the chiropractic coalface. Television did not exist, and the cinema was just a rare treat. Compared with the delights of the farm, and my mum's garden, it is little wonder that I find TV small beer when measured up against caring for my bees, or brewing mead, or turning the leg of a chair on the lathe. Even in three dimensional, high definition and blue ray it is mostly so second rate.
We lived simply but, by George, we ate good food.
What am I driving at? It takes choice foods and exercise as well as exercise and adjustments for the body to take us through into prime old age.
And that is exactly what I plan to do. Don't you want to join me on this marbles intact at eighty plus good food kick? Actually, it is quite fun.
Foods to reduce inflammation are daily on the menu so, coupled with good chiropractic care, that is a life with much less pain.
It really is boring having to think every day about the doctor and the pharmacist; even your chiropractor. Let your food be your medicine, said Thomas Edison. That is good tip from the inventor of the light bulb.
Exercise your lower back every single morning before getting out of bed, take a walk or swim regularly, enjoy nutritious choice foods every day and you'll find your body has a lot less pain, and your mind will be freed from an obsession about the doctor, the back breaker and the candlestick maker.
Make a place for some legumes in your daily fun food; most of the world gets their protein from them, rather than red meat; no question about it, they are a step up to the better life, reducing our reliance on beef and pork.
What are legumes you may be asking? Itis a good question, and behooves us each to have an answer; chickpeas and green beans are my favourites.
Perhaps you like me love a good hamburger but are concerned about too much red meat; quite unlike the nasty soya which is extremely high in anti-nutrients making it indigestible, these chickpea burgers are a delight.
Growing and cooking
your green beans is a cinch, but planting and caring for them on a trellis before turning them
into a delicious wholesome dish takes a little more effort.
I must confess dried beans are not my favourite but, if we want to avoid the Big C then in one way or another we have to enjoy more legumes for our protein.
Cooking limas is only for those with a large garden; also known as butter beans they are delicious when enjoyed green, straight from the vine. Plant the in late Spring once the danger of frost is over, and the soil has warmed.
Green legumes have far less phytates and other so-called antinutrients; they are also much nicer in any case. So we grow pole beans and limas in the summer, and peas and favas in our mild winters.
Despite being first cousin to the deadly nightshade tobacco, tomatoes and eggplant are high on my agenda when it's my turn to take responsibility for menu planning.
Helen too makes sure there are fresh tomato recipes on the
menu every day. Heaven forbid that Bernie get a malignant prostate tumour; and
here is the solution. It's all about a phytonutrient called a lycopene.
Your nutritious choice foods recipes will love a slither or two of chillie
now and then. I especially like chili in my fresh tomato recipes, with a
couple leaves of sweet basil. Even in the smallest garden you will have
room for just one chilli plant amongst your annuals.
HOW TO GROW CHILLI will show you how just one plant will give you plenty of spice.
"During my time as a nurse practitioner, my patients constantly told me what a struggle it was to balance good habits with the chaos of everyday life. I always had two pieces of advice: get educated, and recruit a wellness-focused partner."
Patricia Sarmiento
My all time favourite recipe; fried aubergine, eggplant or brinjal, call it what you like, would an English rose smell any different by another name? It is nutritious and delicious; a little fattening if you don't enjoy it with a salad, or something similar.
Did your eggplant come sealed in a plastic bag to protect it against oxidation. Didn't really need to if fresh, because it has it is own wrapping. It is time to wean off plastic because it is clogging our land fills and, worse, the seas.
Mutton, perhaps if you are American you have never tasted, is the sublime meat that comes from a sheep. It has one big advantage; mostly it is not corn-fed and they are not reared in a sty. It is the only red meat in Holland that I will eat. They roam the polders at will surrounded by dykes and canals. Good stuff, provided you add a lot of vegetables, assuming you, like most of us, have a cholesterol problem.
The real bread revolution in the UK has brought home to us the junk status of supermarket bread. But baking your own loaf is thought to be a long and tiresome business.
That need not be the case; the arrival of the bread machine means that you can do all the preparation in just five minutes and have total control of the ingredients. It tastes and is divine; by adding extra protein and fat you can easily turn it into a low GI loaf that is fit even for a diabetic.
By adding a small amount of finely sliced vegetables you can lower it even further; our easy zucchini bread recipe is one my favourites, giving proven protection against cataracts.
Give this sourdough bread recipe a try; it is very simple, but you do need a machine. You can pick them up second hand quite cheaply; make sure it has a five hour cycle.
Every good day should start with a nutritious breakfast; make sure you include a little protein or you'll be snacking at 11 o'clock, the quickest way to an obesity problem.
Interestingly researchers reporting in Plos Medicine, after follow a large group for 24 years found that those enjoying nutritious choice foods like berries and apples and non-starchy vegetables regularly had much less of a weight problem[1].
It'll make you read these strawberries nutrition facts.
The subsequent meal effect of inclusion of whole grains or legumes in the nutritious breakfast menu will mean that a slice of cake or cola later in the day will not have the same deleterious effect on your blood sugar.
There is only one really important rule for the working man or woman for lunch. TAKE YOUR LUNCH WITH YOU. Here I show you how I made a super nutritious lunch in only four minutes. Of course, you will add your own touches, but the general principles remain.
Having a general sense of the caloric count of various foods, and the insulin response produced by carbohydrates (the Glycemic Index) is very important in menu planning and mixing your nutritious choice foods. And when you do junk out, like having parboiled rice, just because it's so easy (it has a GI of 100, the same as glucose), understanding how nutritious mixing of your foods reduces the rate at which your foods are converted into blood glucose is vital.
For example, parboiled rice with curried meat and chickpeas, maraconi with cheese, bread with tomato and lettuce and always my favourite, hummus which has the lowest GI on the chart (6)is not a problem. Eat hummus regularly then you can cheat a bit with your favourite junk foods. Try and have a green salad every day.
Carbohydrate, of course includes bread. But bread today is so refined, full of chemicals, and made with pro inflammatory omega-6 oil. Panera bread menu recipe is so easy; bake your own.
We all love a little sweetening periodically, but sugar is empty calories devoid of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, or fibre. Artifical sweetener side effects make them even worse. Processed honey is a little better but small amounts of raw honey can truly place amongst the nutritious choice foods; even better enjoy natural honeycomb, if you can find it.
One would not normally list an alcoholic beverage amongst choice foods, but this honey brown beer is a natural probiotic, and certainly qualifies.
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Pathophysiology of atherosclerosis oddly is one of the most popular pages at this site. It is an attempt to explain a very complex subject in layman's terms. In short, the smoothness of the inner surface of your blood vessels is vitally important, and nutritious choice foods is most of the solution.
Research outlined at homocysteine cardiovascular points out that if this chemical is raised in the blood it causes narrowing of the carotid artery; that means the brain will not get sufficient oxygen and nutrients.
This also is the message behind good brain foods; anything that impedes blood getting freely to the brain is going to contribute to dementia.
Get your calcium from kefir; from supplements the mineral is deposited in the coronary arteries raising the spectre of cardiovascular disease.
Cold water fish is just the easiest and most delicious way to increase the Omega-3 in your diet. Smoked mackerel recipes are pre-cooked. Just open and tuck in, what could be easier?
The studies on atherosclerosis reveal that the wellness of your blood vessels is directly related to omega-3 intake. Eat more fatty fish and, if you are vegetarian then grind a tablespoon of flax seed nutrition information every day onto your oats cereal or porridge.
There are two concerns here. The first is that those taking calcium supplements have increased calcification of the inner lining of their arteries and more heart disease. However enjoying nutritious choice foods that have best calcium for osteoporosis actually lowers cardiac conditions.
The second is a substance called phytic acid that is found in bran, legumes and seeds inhibits mineral absorption; however research shows that soaking and rinsing, cooking and fermenting reduces this problems. Are phytates bad?
Without a doubt nutritious choice foods require more effort and time; but instead you'll be spending at least ten times less consulting doctors. Seeing it from the inside, I'm convinced it's worth your commitment. As the Dutch say, those who will not hear, must feel.
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Authentic hummus recipe can be made in four
minutes with a little practice; that's all it takes to make this delicious
cholesterol-friendly food. Along with eggs Florentine it tops my list of nutritious choice foods.
Four minutes, if you got the Garbanzo beans, chickpeas, all ready... otherwise it takes 9 hours and 4 minutes! They need to be soaked overnight and then pressure cooked for half an hour.
Do not buy hummus. It only keeps for about three to four days, so the commercial varieties are filled with chemicals. They taste awful.
If I was to recommend the best first step with nutritious choice foods, it would be to make your own authentic hummus recipe. Is four minutes twice a week, with a bit of practice, too much to ask?
Hummus will transform a very ordinary green salad into a culinary delight.
Another wonderful variation is this simple olive garden menu tapenade; it is so easy to make, just make sure you get the pits out.
Nutritious choice foods; chickpeas, broccoli and walnuts, olive oil and lemon juice.
If you have not already grasped it, broccoli lies very central on our shopping list. Just it is anti cancer properties are enough, but add to that the great taste of broccoli, and you have got a winner.
Planting broccoli is a good option too. The branching variety goes on producing florets for months. One of our important items in the autumn veggie garden.
This broccoli walnut salad you can enjoy with either lightly blanched or raw
broccoli, both are fantastic, and it is so easy to prepare. Fifteen
minutes and dinner is ready. utritious choice food does not necessarily take up hours of your time and, when it does, it is still worth the effort. It becomes a way of thinking; shall I spend time growing, picking, slicing broccoli and shelling walnuts or is it more fun consulting oncologists?
The only slight negative, and to my way of thinking it is a positive, one of your optional broccoli walnut salad ingredients is chickpeas, and those you do have to soak over night, and then pressure cook for fifteen minutes.
Only use freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice and I always use the pulp; you lose so much of the nutrition by straining it. Do get the pips out.
Preserved juice is full of junk and cannot be called a good food. Plant a lemon tree, or make sure citrus is weekly on the shopping list.
But they are so full of the soluble fibre that your colon loves, and also rich in phytosterols known for their ability to lower cholesterol levels and being heart friendly.
What are phytosterols? Five coloured foods every day is a must, and I aim for ten, not fussing about the quantity.
Her's a little tip. I cook a kilogram of chickpeas, two pounds, and freeze them in small packets for when I need them instantly for a broccoli walnut salad, or hummus, or meat stews.
Just the great taste is enough, and you can add a handful of raisins, juggle the recipe and turn it into a broccoli raisin salad recipe. For me a recipe is just a framework to develop your own cooking personality. How would a side dish of tapenade be?
That is, lower the low density lipoproteins, that are associated with heart
disease. Phytosterols increase the friendly cholesterol, that
which cleans up your blood vessels, known as high density lipoproteins whilst simultaneously lowering the bad cholesterol. This is almost certainly also the reason why walnuts are proven to lower
diastolic blood pressure. This makes broccoli and walnuts a winning combination; they are both very high on our list of nutritious choice foods; taste great too.
If Helen's 15 euro salad does not fix your constipation, I will be totally astonished. It fixed my 28-year problem; it is a fantastically delicious and nutritious alkalising supper anyway. What is more you can prepare it in ten minutes. Fifteen euros of value, about two euros to make it.
Helen's apple salad recipe is a goodie too; full of the pectin, the soluble fibre that makes for a happy colon.
I have removed all the soups (this page was getting too long) and put them together at Easy Soup Recipes. I just love soups, they are delicious, made in a flash, and extremely nutritious so they fit in well with our SLOW FOOD, MADE FAST philosophy.
I cannot emphasise enough that freshly-picked is the secret to tasty food; once oxygen takes its toll, greens in particular lose their crunchy vitality.
In a diatribe against the no cake, no wine and more kale sect Zoe Sadler bemoans what she calls good advice to make you sick; she has a point when you cannot get young tender leaves, freshly-picked.
Broccoli facts will keep you up to date.
Interesting new research shows that a bi-weekly broccoli dish has a profound impact on the highly aggressive prostate cancers, and other CA too.
How to grow broccoli suggests we choose
the branching varieties; they just go on and on bearing, and it's in
these florets that the richest cancer-preventing sulforaphane is found.
FRESH SPINACH SALAD RECIPES ...
Few things scare a man more than loss of libido and erectile dysfunction; and that is exactly what the cholesterol-lowering drugs called Statins do. Our cholesterol-lowering foods and for example the humble tomato soup recipe are of prime importance; consider rather those that lower cholesterol naturally.
Far better, safer than nasty statins. Did you know, for example,
medicine's own research shows that taking statins, unless you have have a
heart condition, is valueless? Well, unless you're the owner of a big
pharmaceutical!
FOODS THAT LOWER CHOLESTEROL ... side effects of Statins.
The
epidemic of Alzheimers and senile dementia in today's modern world is
very scary. To achieve all those goals we have set for the next 20+
years, you and I are both going to need plenty of Omega-3 fatty acids.
Those are the fats that the brain and the nerves are made of. Fatty
fish, like our mackerel recipes, and growing butternut squash, and our
made in a jiffy Smoked Salmon Dip recipe are definitely on the nutritious choice foods menu.
So will planting a walnut tree, and another avocado tree. Avo oil is 26% "essential" polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that our brains desperately need if we do not want to lose our marbles.
Yellow foods are rich in vital beta carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. Good for the skin, and all epithelial tissue. The lining of the gut for example if you suffer from the nasty colon diseases. Delicious in any case; they are very important amongst your nutritious choice foods.
Every man needs to be concerned about his prostate. It is after all the most common terminal cancer in men, and the treatment is awful; it often leaves you impotent. Even benign hypertrophy of the gland, a non-cancer, is murder; it is all about nutritious choice foods.
Allow me to indulge in a little boasting; my urologist just phoned, astonished that my PSA is 0.9; unheard of in a man of my age; nutritious choice foods have been my salvation.
So growing tomatoes in general, our tomato soup recipe, and foods that are rich in phytosterols have to be high on the prostate agenda in the coming years.
International Psychogeriatrics volume 25, 2013
Previous research confirms that there is a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease in those who
New research reveals surprisingly that
There is an abundance of research that raw food is good for us. You and your children should be eating a minimum of five coloured fruits and salads every day.
Chaote squash is one of those less favoured gourds; picked young and marinated overnight in lime juice or Balsamic vinegar it is excellent in a salad.
It is also slow food, made fast. The raw stuff contains the enzymes that are denatured by cooking and, whilst we may not appreciate the difference, the astute tongue certainly can. Try squeezing your own orange juice and then comparing it with that out of a carton. Compare raw, unheated honey with what you buy in the supermarket. Bite into an apple and compare it with the juice. There is a difference.
Always eat the peel of the apple too, that is where 75 percent of the soluble fibre that keeps your colon happy is to be found; do wash it thoroughly first.
Avoid
the supermarket mayo; it is full of the evil for your nervous system
hydrogenated fats. For your tuna and mayo, or on your raw salad, rather
use this easy homemade mayonnaise recipe; or just dribble straight olive
oil, or our olive garden salad dressing on your lunch.
The not so humble apple must also surely rank high on our list of nutritious choice foods.
It is virtually a byword that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. What started out as an old wives' tale, research has now confirmed that this magnificent fruit is probably one of the very best medicines on the planet.
Improving lung function, curing a heap of tummy troubles and reducing the
risk of tumours; and much more.
Few things are lovelier than to bite into crisp fruit but alas I forbid it for patients with jaw joint conditions; our apple salad recipe is a delicious and nutritious alternative.
In whatever way you choose make sure that lettuce wraps recipes are somewhere on the menu. Just avoid Iceberg; boring and lacking in nutrition.
Few things are destroying our planet faster than the pollution of our seas. Do your level best to wean off plastic. Eight million tons of our plastic garbage is dumped every year into our oceans. Will there be a pristine beach where your grandchildren can sit? If something is wrapped in plastic, try not to buy it.
If you are looking for more protein in your diet, then give thought on how to grow peas; fresh from the garden, they are divine on any salad. Be especially careful of a low carbohydrate-high protein diet, especially if it is red meat; but legumes are just fine.
Nutritious choice foods means selecting more protein of vegetable origin. Being "flexitarian" is one of the ketogenic diets; enjoying meat only once or twice a week and getting most of our amino acids from beans and peas.
Also reflected in the research was that lowering refined carbohydrate was excellent and had no effect but reduced of whole starches was associated with an increase in cardiovascular outcomes.
Also note that in this research there was no increase in fat, energy requirements coming from the protein. So this would not be pertinent to those banting or on a ketogenic diet.
The buzz word these days is a monumental shift to wellness living and with good reason; folk are sick and tired of being ill; the ever-present threat of cancer and heart disease has frightened us.
At wellness living tips you will find a lot more to absorb your interest. One of them you will discover is read the labels carefully and with a degree of distrust; food companies are notorious for their damn lies and statistics.
Here you will also find our top 7 functional foods for your wellness; not surprisingly many of them are listed above.
We can't help getting older.
But there's no need to get old; going to seed should not happen until you are well into your nineties if you follow along at Blue Zone longevity[2].
USEFUL LINKS
Bernard Preston is a semi-retired DC with a passion for nutritious choice foods, taking virtually no medication and hoping to reach a happy eighty years of age with all his joints and brain intact.
It can be achieved but an equal passion for good living is an inviolate part of the deal; plus a regular walk in the sun with a hat.
A fascination with nutritious choice foods means that a life without medication is a real prospect, and you can forget fussing with calorie intake for weight loss; this is a short story, by the way; one of my favourites.
I believe strongly that a sound and blameless body is His desire for us; so much of illness we bring upon ourselves. Just as Jesus knew that the Father wouldn't protect him if he succumbed to the temptation to jump from the temple heights, so we should not expect Him to save us from our own stupidity. In his grace, he may, but we should certainly not presume it.
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